Best part of Dragonlance - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Best part of Dragonlance

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
sirpatricshieldstrik
Dec 03, 2008 6:43:34 What do you think is the best part of the Dragonlance setting?
#2
Darth_Caffeineus
Dec 03, 2008 8:35:49 There are so many things. But for me there are 3 things I particularly like
1. The gods and their relationships with each other.
2. The numerous organizations and factions.
3. The fact that Ansalon is only the about size of Europe, making it easier to make a story where events in one part of the continent affect other parts.
#3
squidyak
Dec 03, 2008 9:27:12 Wizards of High Sorcery, Solamnic Knights, Kender.
#4
Luis_Carlos
Dec 03, 2008 13:38:59 The heroes of the lance.
#5
knight17
Dec 06, 2008 8:28:07 1. Draconians
2. Knights of Solamnia
3. Wizards of High Sorcery
4. Gods
5. Kender
#6
sirpatricshieldstrik
Dec 11, 2008 6:00:54 I'm going with the Knights of Solamnia and Dragon rider combat.
#7
Cpt_Micha
Dec 11, 2008 11:08:33 Knights of Solamnia
Wizards of High Sorcery (even if I made a slight alteration to their fluff)
The current situation of Elves not having a home. (serves them right stuck up pricks)
#8
HobbitFan
Dec 15, 2008 0:56:28 I would have to say my favorite things about the setting would have to be those things which I think set Krynn apart from other settings:

1. Orders of High Sorcery, the 3 moons and magic
2. Knights of Solamnia
3. Tinker gnomes
4. intelligent minotaurs
5. elves who are less than perfect
6. kender (I like them. I hate how most people play them, however)
7. dragons as movers and shakers in the setting
8. draconians
#9
MarcelusDragonsbane
Dec 15, 2008 18:04:15 The creators' ability to (before Jean Rabe's Dhamon Saga) say "Hey, check out this monster manual. Hm. I don't like that. It's not going in the campaign world. I've long been opposed to the melting pot idea Ed Greenwood seemed to base Forgotten Realms on and Eberron picked up.

I really enjoyed to 3rd edition ruling on Wizards getting tired after their spells.

I like that a half elf is a central character.

I enjoy the triangle with a focus torn in the middle of said shape concept.

I enjoy that the artifacts in the game seem like actual epic items, instead of "Wow! A +5 Dragonbane spear! I'll scrap it for extra gold!"

And Kender. I'm not a fan of hobbits and I'm not a fan of normal halflings who are statistically rogues, but personality wise.....um.....small humans.

I hate afflicted Kender. I also hate that Vampire's have made their way into Weiss' writing.
#10
HobbitFan
Dec 15, 2008 22:58:22 Marcelus,

Just out of curiosity, what is wrong with a Hobbit?
Did you mean to say hobbits and halflings were both in your estimation too much like small humans? Is that what you meant?
#11
MarcelusDragonsbane
Dec 17, 2008 16:11:31 Most of the flavor text seems to be. I just get the idea that for the most part, they're defined as others as the little folk and they themselves seem to even define themselves that way.
#12
toryn
Dec 18, 2008 22:29:08 1. Raistlin (this is my favorite character out of all the novels I have read)
2. Lord Soth (he is so cool. wish he was still around)
3. No Drizzt wannabes (I hate the character just because so many people try to emulate him)

and
4. The whole spellcasting draining one's being (that is so cool)
#13
teepeekay
Dec 19, 2008 4:41:39 Taladas.

It's a nicely non-generic fantasy setting, and the taladan gnomes are awesome. Having technofreak gnomes who are heroic and awesome rather than lame and silly is so friggin' cool!

Their varying, thought-provoking takes on the classic fantasy races are cool. All four different takes on elves are awesome, both interesting and cool without being either idealized or just annoying pricks.

Having roman minotaurs be the unpleasantly hegemonic race without making them baby-eating, demon-worshipping psychoes is a little stroke of genius.
#14
sirpatricshieldstrik
Dec 19, 2008 8:23:27
I would have to say my favorite things about the setting would have to be those things which I think set Krynn apart from other settings:

1. Orders of High Sorcery, the 3 moons and magic
2. Knights of Solamnia
3. Tinker gnomes
4. intelligent minotaurs
5. elves who are less than perfect
6. kender (I like them. I hate how most people play them, however)
7. dragons as movers and shakers in the setting
8. draconians

I agree with your assesments and Kenders are not easy characters to role play.
#15
sirpatricshieldstrik
Dec 19, 2008 8:44:36
Taladas.

It's a nicely non-generic fantasy setting, and the taladan gnomes are awesome. Having technofreak gnomes who are heroic and awesome rather than lame and silly is so friggin' cool!

Their varying, thought-provoking takes on the classic fantasy races are cool. All four different takes on elves are awesome, both interesting and cool without being either idealized or just annoying pricks.

Having roman minotaurs be the unpleasantly hegemonic race without making them baby-eating, demon-worshipping psychoes is a little stroke of genius.

I also like the fact that the original ogre race were beautiful and intelligent.
#16
cam_banks
Dec 20, 2008 12:09:17
The creators' ability to (before Jean Rabe's Dhamon Saga) say "Hey, check out this monster manual. Hm. I don't like that. It's not going in the campaign world.

You've not looked at the original classic modules in a while, I'm guessing?

Many of those were essentially "let's see how many of the new monsters from Monster Manual II or Fiend Folio we can cram into one adventure."

Sheet ghouls, even!

Cheers,
Cam
#17
addle-cove-anarchist
Dec 30, 2008 3:24:27 The Dark Knights
#18
sirpatricshieldstrik
Mar 03, 2009 11:11:33 Dark Knights are great too.
#19
drizztsmanchild
Mar 04, 2009 0:20:02 The fact that DL provides tremendous details concerning all races in the world from Humans to Kender and everything in between. Oh and Raistlin of course.
#20
heavywarlance_dup
Mar 04, 2009 9:32:37 The descriptions of how the world works were great
#21
mage_gone_mad
Mar 19, 2009 19:20:20 Anything to do with the Companions and ofcourse Raistlin... mostly when he turned evil.
#22
thephantom
Mar 21, 2009 10:32:42 Wizards of High Sorcery and Tasslehoff.
#23
aliothefool
Mar 22, 2009 7:26:12 Skye.
Mina. (Yes, I loved every story with Mina in it.)
Raistlin. (Yes, I like Mina more than Raistlin.)
Lord Soth.
Kitiara.
Wizards of High Sorcery & the moon deities.
#24
warghoul
Mar 23, 2009 8:27:11 I like the idea of the orders and 'rogue' magic users.
No orcs.
Elfs being the bastard race.
The various types of dwarves.
Not afraid to kill off the 'cash cow' characters.
#25
Dndungeoneer
Mar 27, 2009 14:58:34
I would have to say my favorite things about the setting would have to be those things which I think set Krynn apart from other settings:

1. Orders of High Sorcery, the 3 moons and magic
2. Knights of Solamnia
3. Tinker gnomes
4. intelligent minotaurs
5. elves who are less than perfect
6. kender (I like them. I hate how most people play them, however)
7. dragons as movers and shakers in the setting
8. draconians

Basically this for me as well.
#26
borris
Apr 01, 2009 20:25:08 The feeling that every character, even the lowliest blacksmith, innkeeper, or librarian, has an important role to play in the grand History of the world, and the fact that no matter how minor a character, his or her history is hardly ever unintereting.

Ansalon as continent you can tour in two months, while still feeling less crowded and filled with superpowerful characters than most settings.

Ambiguous characters with good and bad traits. All of them, even the deities to some extent.

All this combined, and all the little details, making Krynn believable as a real place, moreso than any other setting I can think of.
#27
gregt_314
Apr 01, 2009 23:28:25 * Dragons who are powerful without being all powerful - they're dragons who need people more than they are dragons who use people.

* Kender, gully dwarves and gnomes. A setting without comic relief is a setting without soul.

* Draconians. I loved how the novels brought them to life as simultaneously generic henchmen and also a new and unique race struggling to find its place in the world.

* A history that was vague and mostly forgotten. In contrast to Forgotten Realms' monolithic chronology, Dragonlance (at least in its first incarnation) just had a vast unremembered morass of history with only a few things (such as Huma and the Dragonlances) still surviving in modern lore. It's both welcoming to newcomers and easy to DM for.

--

I wish it could always be the War of the Lance; I didn't really enjoy anything that came afterwards. In the same way that in Star Wars the Old Republic is a core setting you can come back to any time you like, I'd like to see the War of the Lance treated as its own little pocket of time, fully supported and still current.
#28
lordjerz
Apr 04, 2009 2:14:38 Lord. Soth.

Other than him, I like everything about DL. It feels like home when I read any of their material. I grew up with these books, so I have a fierce loyalty and familiarity with their whole campaign setting. I like the fact that their authors seem to genuinely care about the characters they create - and the history that's provided is complete and typically makes sense. I like thier pantheon, I like their take on elves, magic, and the knighthood.

Overall, Dragonlance is what I compare every novel I read to (outside of the LoTR books) and I use DL as my measuring stick.
#29
Marcus_Majarra
Apr 08, 2009 13:57:23 I think the best part of Dragonlance is the entire setup of the War of the Lance. You're in an age of utter despair and what meager form of stability the people have achieved is on the verge of being snuffed out by the looming shadow of the return of the Gods of Darkness and their powerful servants. Bringing hope to the people, vanquishing the forces of darkness, and setting the world straight are the hallmarks of some of the best epic high fantasy, and the actual game sets it up so that you do not need to be some kind of mechanical Deus ex Machina in order to succeed.
#30
conteur
Apr 12, 2009 23:20:22
There are so many things. But for me there are 3 things I particularly like
1. The gods and their relationships with each other.
2. The numerous organizations and factions.
3. The fact that Ansalon is only the about size of Europe, making it easier to make a story where events in one part of the continent affect other parts.

The same.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 sirpatricshieldstrik Dec 03, 2008 6:43:34	What do you think is the best part of the Dragonlance setting?
#2 Darth_Caffeineus Dec 03, 2008 8:35:49	There are so many things. But for me there are 3 things I particularly like 1. The gods and their relationships with each other. 2. The numerous organizations and factions. 3. The fact that Ansalon is only the about size of Europe, making it easier to make a story where events in one part of the continent affect other parts.
#3 squidyak Dec 03, 2008 9:27:12	Wizards of High Sorcery, Solamnic Knights, Kender.
#4 Luis_Carlos Dec 03, 2008 13:38:59	The heroes of the lance.
#5 knight17 Dec 06, 2008 8:28:07	1. Draconians 2. Knights of Solamnia 3. Wizards of High Sorcery 4. Gods 5. Kender
#6 sirpatricshieldstrik Dec 11, 2008 6:00:54	I'm going with the Knights of Solamnia and Dragon rider combat.
#7 Cpt_Micha Dec 11, 2008 11:08:33	Knights of Solamnia Wizards of High Sorcery (even if I made a slight alteration to their fluff) The current situation of Elves not having a home. (serves them right stuck up pricks)
#8 HobbitFan Dec 15, 2008 0:56:28	I would have to say my favorite things about the setting would have to be those things which I think set Krynn apart from other settings: 1. Orders of High Sorcery, the 3 moons and magic 2. Knights of Solamnia 3. Tinker gnomes 4. intelligent minotaurs 5. elves who are less than perfect 6. kender (I like them. I hate how most people play them, however) 7. dragons as movers and shakers in the setting 8. draconians
#9 MarcelusDragonsbane Dec 15, 2008 18:04:15	The creators' ability to (before Jean Rabe's Dhamon Saga) say "Hey, check out this monster manual. Hm. I don't like that. It's not going in the campaign world. I've long been opposed to the melting pot idea Ed Greenwood seemed to base Forgotten Realms on and Eberron picked up. I really enjoyed to 3rd edition ruling on Wizards getting tired after their spells. I like that a half elf is a central character. I enjoy the triangle with a focus torn in the middle of said shape concept. I enjoy that the artifacts in the game seem like actual epic items, instead of "Wow! A +5 Dragonbane spear! I'll scrap it for extra gold!" And Kender. I'm not a fan of hobbits and I'm not a fan of normal halflings who are statistically rogues, but personality wise.....um.....small humans. I hate afflicted Kender. I also hate that Vampire's have made their way into Weiss' writing.
#10 HobbitFan Dec 15, 2008 22:58:22	Marcelus, Just out of curiosity, what is wrong with a Hobbit? Did you mean to say hobbits and halflings were both in your estimation too much like small humans? Is that what you meant?
#11 MarcelusDragonsbane Dec 17, 2008 16:11:31	Most of the flavor text seems to be. I just get the idea that for the most part, they're defined as others as the little folk and they themselves seem to even define themselves that way.
#12 toryn Dec 18, 2008 22:29:08	1. Raistlin (this is my favorite character out of all the novels I have read) 2. Lord Soth (he is so cool. wish he was still around) 3. No Drizzt wannabes (I hate the character just because so many people try to emulate him) and 4. The whole spellcasting draining one's being (that is so cool)
#13 teepeekay Dec 19, 2008 4:41:39	Taladas. It's a nicely non-generic fantasy setting, and the taladan gnomes are awesome. Having technofreak gnomes who are heroic and awesome rather than lame and silly is so friggin' cool! Their varying, thought-provoking takes on the classic fantasy races are cool. All four different takes on elves are awesome, both interesting and cool without being either idealized or just annoying pricks. Having roman minotaurs be the unpleasantly hegemonic race without making them baby-eating, demon-worshipping psychoes is a little stroke of genius.
#14 sirpatricshieldstrik Dec 19, 2008 8:23:27	I would have to say my favorite things about the setting would have to be those things which I think set Krynn apart from other settings: 1. Orders of High Sorcery, the 3 moons and magic 2. Knights of Solamnia 3. Tinker gnomes 4. intelligent minotaurs 5. elves who are less than perfect 6. kender (I like them. I hate how most people play them, however) 7. dragons as movers and shakers in the setting 8. draconians I agree with your assesments and Kenders are not easy characters to role play.
#15 sirpatricshieldstrik Dec 19, 2008 8:44:36	Taladas. It's a nicely non-generic fantasy setting, and the taladan gnomes are awesome. Having technofreak gnomes who are heroic and awesome rather than lame and silly is so friggin' cool! Their varying, thought-provoking takes on the classic fantasy races are cool. All four different takes on elves are awesome, both interesting and cool without being either idealized or just annoying pricks. Having roman minotaurs be the unpleasantly hegemonic race without making them baby-eating, demon-worshipping psychoes is a little stroke of genius. I also like the fact that the original ogre race were beautiful and intelligent.
#16 cam_banks Dec 20, 2008 12:09:17	The creators' ability to (before Jean Rabe's Dhamon Saga) say "Hey, check out this monster manual. Hm. I don't like that. It's not going in the campaign world. You've not looked at the original classic modules in a while, I'm guessing? Many of those were essentially "let's see how many of the new monsters from Monster Manual II or Fiend Folio we can cram into one adventure." Sheet ghouls, even! Cheers, Cam
#17 addle-cove-anarchist Dec 30, 2008 3:24:27	The Dark Knights
#18 sirpatricshieldstrik Mar 03, 2009 11:11:33	Dark Knights are great too.
#19 drizztsmanchild Mar 04, 2009 0:20:02	The fact that DL provides tremendous details concerning all races in the world from Humans to Kender and everything in between. Oh and Raistlin of course.
#20 heavywarlance_dup Mar 04, 2009 9:32:37	The descriptions of how the world works were great
#21 mage_gone_mad Mar 19, 2009 19:20:20	Anything to do with the Companions and ofcourse Raistlin... mostly when he turned evil.
#22 thephantom Mar 21, 2009 10:32:42	Wizards of High Sorcery and Tasslehoff.
#23 aliothefool Mar 22, 2009 7:26:12	Skye. Mina. (Yes, I loved every story with Mina in it.) Raistlin. (Yes, I like Mina more than Raistlin.) Lord Soth. Kitiara. Wizards of High Sorcery & the moon deities.
#24 warghoul Mar 23, 2009 8:27:11	I like the idea of the orders and 'rogue' magic users. No orcs. Elfs being the bastard race. The various types of dwarves. Not afraid to kill off the 'cash cow' characters.
#25 Dndungeoneer Mar 27, 2009 14:58:34	I would have to say my favorite things about the setting would have to be those things which I think set Krynn apart from other settings: 1. Orders of High Sorcery, the 3 moons and magic 2. Knights of Solamnia 3. Tinker gnomes 4. intelligent minotaurs 5. elves who are less than perfect 6. kender (I like them. I hate how most people play them, however) 7. dragons as movers and shakers in the setting 8. draconians Basically this for me as well.
#26 borris Apr 01, 2009 20:25:08	The feeling that every character, even the lowliest blacksmith, innkeeper, or librarian, has an important role to play in the grand History of the world, and the fact that no matter how minor a character, his or her history is hardly ever unintereting. Ansalon as continent you can tour in two months, while still feeling less crowded and filled with superpowerful characters than most settings. Ambiguous characters with good and bad traits. All of them, even the deities to some extent. All this combined, and all the little details, making Krynn believable as a real place, moreso than any other setting I can think of.
#27 gregt_314 Apr 01, 2009 23:28:25	* Dragons who are powerful without being all powerful - they're dragons who need people more than they are dragons who use people. * Kender, gully dwarves and gnomes. A setting without comic relief is a setting without soul. * Draconians. I loved how the novels brought them to life as simultaneously generic henchmen and also a new and unique race struggling to find its place in the world. * A history that was vague and mostly forgotten. In contrast to Forgotten Realms' monolithic chronology, Dragonlance (at least in its first incarnation) just had a vast unremembered morass of history with only a few things (such as Huma and the Dragonlances) still surviving in modern lore. It's both welcoming to newcomers and easy to DM for. -- I wish it could always be the War of the Lance; I didn't really enjoy anything that came afterwards. In the same way that in Star Wars the Old Republic is a core setting you can come back to any time you like, I'd like to see the War of the Lance treated as its own little pocket of time, fully supported and still current.
#28 lordjerz Apr 04, 2009 2:14:38	Lord. Soth. Other than him, I like everything about DL. It feels like home when I read any of their material. I grew up with these books, so I have a fierce loyalty and familiarity with their whole campaign setting. I like the fact that their authors seem to genuinely care about the characters they create - and the history that's provided is complete and typically makes sense. I like thier pantheon, I like their take on elves, magic, and the knighthood. Overall, Dragonlance is what I compare every novel I read to (outside of the LoTR books) and I use DL as my measuring stick.
#29 Marcus_Majarra Apr 08, 2009 13:57:23	I think the best part of Dragonlance is the entire setup of the War of the Lance. You're in an age of utter despair and what meager form of stability the people have achieved is on the verge of being snuffed out by the looming shadow of the return of the Gods of Darkness and their powerful servants. Bringing hope to the people, vanquishing the forces of darkness, and setting the world straight are the hallmarks of some of the best epic high fantasy, and the actual game sets it up so that you do not need to be some kind of mechanical Deus ex Machina in order to succeed.
#30 conteur Apr 12, 2009 23:20:22	There are so many things. But for me there are 3 things I particularly like 1. The gods and their relationships with each other. 2. The numerous organizations and factions. 3. The fact that Ansalon is only the about size of Europe, making it easier to make a story where events in one part of the continent affect other parts. The same.